February 2018 Skater of the Month

KAIJU #0813

Tell us about your name.
I'm Kaiju! I love giant monster movies like Pacific Rim and Godzilla. I even have a kaiju tattooed on my arm! I'm kind of a pushy jammer, hoping to destroy blocker walls and putting up a fight for my team. 

What are your derby goals?
1) Make it onto The Wipeouts
2) Keep calm while jamming
3) Not be confused for Skate Bishop at least once

Who inspires you on the track?
Can I say all of the Reseda Wreckers? Because, real talk, they're some of the hardest working/most supportive skaters I know. 

What is your favorite derby memory?
I was awarded MVP in a Wreckers v Bandit game in front of some of my friends. It was the first time I won anything derby-related. I think started crying. I definitely started excitedly swearing in disbelief. 

April 2017 Skater of the Month

Tell us about your name.
As a kid, I thought Icebox from The Little Giants was really cool.

What position do you play?
I'm a blocker who jams here and there, but I try to be an all-around solid skater. As a blocker, I want the be that pain in the ass that you just can't push around. As a jammer, I want mad footwork skills where I'm slick and agile!

Who inspires you on the track?
My First Date trainer Buckingham Malice inspired me to get into "derby shape". My starter pack -- Meow, Slick, Ritz, Cleaver, Venus, Fudge, and Fury -- we started together and we keep each other going! And I love my Bandits, especially Captain PhDiabla.

What is your favorite derby memory?
In the last Bandits bout, I was the jamming for the last jam of the night. One of the Valkyrie blockers hit me out but got a forearm penalty, so I immediately jumped back on the track and pushed through the pack. Then there was some confusion -- I got called on a cut but the ref realized he made the wrong call and waved me back on the track, then my entire bench started yelling at me to re-enter legally! Talk about going out with a bang! #pewpew

ICEBOXX #2326

January 2017 Skater of the Month

KIM NOVAKAINE
#3632

Tell us about your name
I’m a sucker for Alfred Hitchcock movies. When I joined SFV, I was six weeks postpartum, so I wanted a name to involve an amazing leading lady and evoke the thought of pain.  I was hoping my hits would leave my opponents begging for some pain relievers!

What position do you play?
Blocker all day! Blocking has truly allowed me to embrace my strength (and my thunder thighs). I've never, even at my thinnest, loved my body as much as I do now. Derby has helped me so much to be in a better place mentally. I’m a work in progress, but I'm starting to see myself as an athlete! 

PHOTO BY TRISTAN KING

Who do you look to for inspiration?
I’ve worked with so many of the SFV trainers and found that all of them have such great inspiration to offer. Derp taught me how to find the rhythm in my laps and how to get out of my head. Twiggy preached the importance of mantras. Atomic’s constant push of #GYLT actually inspired me get my life together. And Dovah … oh man, she’s who I want to be when I grow up.

What are your derby goals for 2017?
Agility, strength, focus … but overall, HAVING THE BEST 2017 POSSIBLE!!! 

January 2017 marks my second derbyversary with this amazing league. I’ve come so far in my journey and I want so much more. I want to sweat and cry and cuss up a storm and laugh at myself. I want to cross-train and have fun with my teams. But most of all, I want to push myself harder than ever while still supporting all of my badass derby sisters. 2017, here we come!

December 2016 Skater of the Month

HARDLEE ANN ANGEL
#9452

Who are you?
I'm a blocker!  I love the challenge of not allowing anyone to get by me. But now, I’m also a trainer, helping teach the Fresh Meat to skate and scrimmage, both the adults and juniors. 

Tell us about your name.
Appearances are deceiving. I'm always teased about looking quiet and sweet, but in reality my halo is held up by devil horns! 😈😈😈 My number represents my dad's birthdate who died of cancer but I know he's always with me when I'm skating. 

Who is your derby inspiration?
Moose always inspires me to be better. From the very beginning, her voice is a voice I could hear above all the others. She has been such a rock whenever I've needed support and encouragement. Moose knows exactly how much to push a person to reach their limits and she never lets you give up.

What’s your favorite derby memory?
My very first advanced scrimmage, I got teamed up with Saturday and Legs and —WOW! — the communication between those two!  They told me exactly where to go, what to do, when they were going to throw me into the jammer … all the while, I somehow managed to stay on my skates and keep up. It was such a great feeling of accomplishment and teamwork.  

May 2016 Skater of the Month

Photo by ConJobb Photos

SAMMI SMACKY-YAO
#480

Congrats on being SFV Roller Derby's May 2016 Skater of the Month!
Wow! What an honor! Everyone in SFV is so great. Shout out to all the super moms out there, my O.G. Banditas, my new Wrecking Crew, my GHOULS and the Sandlot! 

What’s your favorite derby position?
I love all things derby! I also love a challenge and so I'm going to go ahead and say that Jamming is my favorite. Although all positions hold various challenges, not everyone wants the star panty. It's like the unwanted step child.

What is your favorite derby memory?
The Ghoul Scouts vs Frankenbabes freshie bout. I was voted co-captain. It was such an exciting game, and pulling off the win by a few points felt like magic. From the coaches to my teammates and everything in between, it holds a spot in my heart and was awesome fun!

What's your super power? 
I am a SuperMom, so I have many super powers! My favorite is making wine disappear.

December 2015 Skater of the Month

Photo by Tough Girls on Eight Wheels

KAIJU KIRA
#0813

I'm KAIJU. Hear me RAWR.

I noticed I needed a physical outlet for the increasing levels of stress, anxiety, and depression I was feeling from my job. Having tried (and failed) at roller derby before, I googled leagues near my apartment, saw there was a First Date in two weeks with SFV, and signed up! All the skaters with their support & encouragement on and off the track gave me the strength to quit my job and focus full time on drawing comics.

My number came before I even chose a derby name. I wanted a number that was important to me and also kind of nerdy, and in August of 2013, I was the first in my family to graduate from college. Now for the nerdy part which goes with the name: August 2013 is also when the Kaiju attacked San Francisco in Guillermo Del Toro's movie Pacific Rim. I took it as a sign and went with the name KAIJU (pronounced kai-jū) , which is the Japanese word for "strange beast." Kaiju are hostile, fearless, giant monsters meant to destroy all mankind, and that's what I want to be every time I hit the track. 

I hope she doesn't think I'm weird for saying this, but Sleaze is my biggest derby inspiration. She's a beast of a skater and has really helped me the most during Fresh Meat and my first scrimmage practices.

Off the track, I'm just your friendly neighborhood comic shop babe at Earth-2 Comics, but you can also find me in my studio writing and drawing my own comics, getting ready to pitch them next year. And yes, one of them is totally about rad derby girls based off SFV!

November 2015 Skater of the Month

DOVAHKILL
#1111

Photo by Tough Girls on Eight Wheels

Hello, my name is Dovahkill and I'm addicted to roller derby.

Last year I spent most of my time on the disabled list sitting on the sidelines. I had surgery on my knee and it was kind of sucky. Instead of withdrawing myself from derby because I could not play, I immersed myself even deeper into the derby world!! There is so much to do and learn about this sport without even participating in the hitting aspect, but boy do I enjoy that part!! I started training fresh meat, juniors, and became Head NSO of the league. Once I was able to get back on skates, I had gained so much knowledge from training others and officiating every game, that I came back a smarter and stronger player.

Although surgery was unpleasant, I really appreciate what I learned in that recovery time and would never give that up. At times it can be tiring to have so many responsibilities, but I am so honored to be able to train juniors, fresh meat, and non-skating officials that I wouldn't have it any other way. When they tell me things like I'm their favorite or I inspire them in some way, my heart gets all fluttery. I couldn't do any of these things without all the amazingly strong, supportive, and inspirational women and men in this league. Nothing really compares to the feeling of knowing you have like 100 friends that would do just about anything for you.

I am Dovahkill and I am SFVRD!!!

September 2015 Skater of the Month

SMASHA GREY
#2005

My name is based after Sasha Grey, the adult film star/actress because I find women who take control of their own bodies and sexuality to be very powerful. Plus, she's a huge babe. 

I originally thought I would be more into jamming because I'm on the smaller side but I'm learning not to underestimate the power of my booty and I really enjoy hitting people! 

The freshie girls are the most inspiring people to me. It takes a lot of resilience to be new to something that takes so much practice and those gals do not give ever up. 

My first advanced practice is my favorite memory because it terrified me and I got beat up a bunch and I felt so accomplished when I survived! 

When I'm not skating, I'm a zoology student and a waitress at an 1890's-themed ice cream parlour. I also have watched the entire It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia series six times.